


Dead Man Walking

by outlawofnohr



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Before a timeskip happens, Family, Idk it's a zombie apocalypse so other characters may or may not appear at some point, M/M, Multi, Nina's a badass, There'll be a couple of prologue chapters, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-25
Packaged: 2019-07-08 04:38:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15923021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/outlawofnohr/pseuds/outlawofnohr
Summary: When the world went to shit, the only thing that mattered to Niles was that his family were with him. As long as his family were alive and safe- well, as safe as he could make them- he was OK.





	1. Prologue I

When the world went to shit, the only thing that mattered to Niles was that his family were with him. As long as his family were alive and safe- well, as safe as he could make them- he was OK.

That morning had been like any other- Leohad kept watch the first half of the night, Niles the other, so when Niles woke up his husband was downstairs preparing breakfast. It was the usual- powdered eggs and canned bread- it was a shame the apocalypse didn’t allow for such glamorous meals.

Entering the kitchen, Niles yawned, stretching his arms above his head, then wrapping them at Leo’s waist and nuzzling against the back of his neck.

“Mmm...sleep well?” Leo hummed, Niles’ stubble tickling his skin, “You need a shave,”

“Better than usual,” Niles replied- having been victim of one too many sleepless nights since this whole thing began, “And I know...I’ll get round to it today,”

Leo turned to face Niles, pushing his stunning white hair back with the fingers of one hand, a unusually content sigh leaving his lips.

“The kids aren’t up yet, then, I take it?” Niles purred.

Leo smiled softly, “Forrest is eating his cereal in the other room. Nina’s still in bed,”

Niles rolled his eyes, “Of course she is,”

Kissing Leo quickly on the lips, Niles retreated to the living room to see Forrest, still in his pyjamas and his curly blonde hair sticking up every which way, munching through a big bowl of cinnamon squares.

“Dad!” Forrest beamed, mouth full as he greeted Niles, hopping up from the sofa and running to him.

Niles scooped him up, grinning, hugging him to his chest, “Woah, if you keep eating that much cereal it won’t be long before I won’t be able to pick you up anymore, Forrest,” The little boy was 6, but growing quickly.

Forrest pouted, little hands rested on his father’s face, “I’m going to be big enough to pick YOU up someday, Dad,”

Niles chuckled, “Oh, are you now? Do you think you’ll be big enough to haul your big sister out of her bed in the mornings, too?”

“I can do that now!” Forrest said proudly.

“Well, then, you sure are confident,” with Forrest still in his arms, Niles started to make his way upstairs to his daughter’s bedroom.

“Nina! Dad says get up!” Forrest giggled, squirming out of Niles’ arms to burst into the girl’s bedroom.

Niles followed close behind, his heart shattering upon realising that Nina was not in her bed. Panic set in instantly, as he ripped open the curtains and peered out through the barricaded window- the garden was empty, too.

“Nina?!” Niles called, with no response.

“Dad?” came Forrest’s little voice from the foot of the bed, tears in his eyes.

“Nina?!” Niles repeated, kneeling down to his son’s level, “Go downstairs to your father, okay, Forrest? I’m going to check up here for your sister,”

“Is she going to be okay, Dad?” Forrest whimpered.

Niles pushed Forrest’s soft curls behind his ears, kissing his forehead gently, “Yes, yes, of course. I’m sure she’s just playing a game, you know what she’s like. Go on, now,”

The boy scampered off, sniffling in an attempt not to burst into tears. Niles took a deep breath in, beginning his search of the upper rooms, including all the closets and under each bed.

“Nina?” He called again in vain, making his way back downstairs.

Leo rushed to him, a crying Forrest in his arms, “Niles! What’s going on?! Forrest said Nina is missing?!” Leo wasn’t the calmest person at the best of times, let alone in a situation such as this.

Niles swallowed, stroking his son’s back soothingly, “She wasn’t in her bed, and she’s not anywhere upstairs, I’ve checked,”

“She has to be _somewhere!_ ” Leo said, looking around frantically, “She couldn’t have left the house! The doors are locked and blocked and the windows are boarded up! Gods, Niles! She’s _ELEVEN!_ Why on Earth would an eleven year old want to be outside during a... during _this?!_ ” Leo and Niles tried to avoid using the words ‘zombie apocalypse’ around their youngest.

“I know, I don’t know!” Niles answered quickly, having done a sweep of the downstairs rooms as well to no avail. “Nina! _Éponine!”_ Niles raised his voice once more, gritting his teeth, using Nina’s full name, “This _isn’t_ funny! You’re scaring your brother and your father!” Leo was not Nina’s father, much like Niles was not Forrest’s, but they still referred to each other as such.

Forrest’s sobbing had mostly subsided, as Leo had sat down and muttered low, reassuring words to him. Leo seemed to have the whole father thing way more figured out than Niles did.

Soon after, Niles was by the front door, slinging his leather jacket on and his crossbow over his right shoulder.

“Niles? What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m going out to look for my daughter. _Our_ daughter,”

“You _cannot_ go out there by yourself!”

“ _You_ can’t leave Forrest here on his own. Stay, I’ll find her. I’ll bring her home safe. Lock the door behind me,”

Not waiting to hear more of Leo’s protesting, Niles left the house, readying a bolt in his crossbow, very much fearing the worst.


	2. Prologue II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was nothing more important to Niles than his daughter- there never had been and there never would be. He was determined to bring her home and to bring her home alive.

Niles left on foot, with the understanding that the noise of a vehicle would draw the undead towards their home. He made his way quietly across the open field and past the river, keeping his eye out for any tracks or signs that Nina might’ve been there, before reaching the forest. Staring deep into it, Niles swallowed hard. A dense forest was the last place you wanted to be during a zombie apocalypse- the trees and branches obscured vision and the undead favoured dark places- making somewhere like this perfect for them. The sharp and blind twists and turns left far too many opportunities for a surprise attack, and these were just some of the reasons Niles and Leo chose to avoid forests.

But there was nothing more important to Niles than his daughter- there never had been and there never would be. He was determined to bring her home and to bring her home _alive_. Despite seemingly running off, Nina wasn’t stupid- she knew how to handle a bow and certainly wasn’t a bad shot with one. Knowing this filled Niles with the glimmer of hope he needed to keep pursuing through the trees in search of his daughter.

Twenty minutes in and there was still no sign of Nina- or of the undead, suspiciously. That was, until Niles stumbled upon Nina’s wooden bow in the centre of a grassy clearing. It was broken in half, arrows strewn about next to a shredded leather quiver. Close by, Niles found the flowered band that Nina wore in her hair, and his heart sank in his chest. This delicate accessory was something that would have only come loose if Nina had been grabbed by someone...or something.

“Nina?!” Niles called. It was risky to shout, but if Nina was alive, he figured she’d be nearby, “Nina?!” No response.

Gritting his teeth, Niles tied the band messily into his hair- it’d lately grown long enough so that he was able to do so- and pressed onwards, after collecting the scattered arrows.

Hours passed, the light began to fade and temperatures began to drop. If Nina was still alive, Niles doubted she would survive the night. This was no place for anybody in darkness, especially not an eleven year old girl.

—

“Where’s Dad?” Forrest whimpered, peering through the gap between the boards covering up the front window.

“I don’t know, baby. Come away from the window,” Leo was pacing, his heart pounding in his chest. Since this whole thing began, he hadn’t been apart from his husband or his two children more than an hour at the most. Now, Niles had been gone for hours, Nina even longer, and Leo was at the end of his rope.

Just like his father, Forrest worried constantly. He worried that the monsters outside would eat his fathers. He was worried that the monsters outside had eaten his big sister.

—

Niles wasn’t sure what time it was, but visibility was very poor- he was only able to see a couple of metres in front of him, making each step more risky than the last. He did have a torch latched onto his belt, but using it would only attract the undead like moths to a flame, so he decided to avoid it unless extremely necessary.

Exhausted and hungry, Niles shuffled through the forest, beginning to lose all hope of ever finding his little girl.

Then, a noise. The rustle of some branches overhead, the eerie groans of the undead. Up ahead, two zombies were clawing hopelessly at the trunk of a tall oak tree. Niles froze. There was probably an animal up there, he thought- caught in a trap, perhaps.

Positioning himself almost silently, Niles fired his crossbow, effortlessly taking out the two zombies and watching them slump to the leaves beneath them in a heap. Remaining alert for others, Niles approached the tree, gazing up into its branches. His heart stopped.

_Nina._

At first, Niles feared the worst- but he could see her chest was rising and falling with breath- she was alive. Rested on a thick branch, secured to it by her belt, Niles’ daughter was sat high up in this tree, asleep and covered head to toe in mud and dirt.

Niles was absolutely overcome with joy, despite the most difficult part of this excursion just beginning. He didn’t know if she was injured or not, if she’d been bitten...and it was at least a three hour trek back to the house. On his own, Niles may have been able to manage it- but certainly not with his daughter in tow. Their only chance was to find somewhere safe and secure to spend the night- which was no easy feat.

“Nina!” Niles hissed through his teeth, and the girl instantly jumped awake, terror in her eyes.

“Wh-what?! Who’s there?” Nina’s voice was trembling.

“Nina, it’s me,” Niles spoke low and soft, wanting to keep his daughter calm whilst at the same time not drawing attention to themselves.

“Dad?!” Nina’s eyes lit up, looking down at her father as if she’d just shot and caught a squirrel for the first time.

“Nina, are you hurt? Did you get bitten?” Niles asked frantically.

Nina shook her head vigorously, tears in her eyes, “No, no, I didn’t get bit. One of them grabbed me and I tripped and fell on my ankle funny. I got away, but now it hurts so much, I can’t walk!”

Niles breathed a sigh of relief, “Nina, it’s too dangerous to go home now. It’s too far and it’s too dark, we won’t know what’s ahead until it’s too late. I need to get you some place safe,”

“Dad, I’m scared,”

“I know, baby girl, I know. But I’m here, now. Daddy’s here,” Niles reached up, as if trying to reach Nina’s hand.

Nina’s softened features turned to shock, “Dad! Behind you!”

Whipping his head around, Niles became aware of a small herd of zombies approaching the tree, grunting and shuffling and biting.

“Stay where you are, Nina. I’ve got this,” Visibility was at its worst- Niles could just about make out the whites of the zombies’ eyes- so landing headshots wasn’t going to be easy. After loading his crossbow, Niles quickly checked behind him in case others were approaching from a different angle- the last thing he wanted was to be surrounded.

Nina looked on, her heart pounding in her chest, her stomach growling from lack of food throughout the day. If only she hadn’t dropped and split her bow, she might have been able to help Niles from her position in the tree. But above anything in the whole world, she believed in her father and she believed that his love for her would _always_ protect her.

Niles missed his first few shots, sending bolts flying into the darkness ahead, rather than straight through the head of any of his targets. Now that they were closer, he could see that there were three. That was OK, he probably could handle three- in this setting, any more than that could have quickly become problematic, but the surrounding area seemed otherwise clear.

As the zombies got closer, Niles was able to line up a clearer shot and take down one of them with a bolt clean through the centre of its forehead. The others, however, were now too close for Niles to effectively use his crossbow, and would require risky hand-to-hand combat to defeat. Slinging the crossbow over his shoulder, Niles reached for the blade at his hip, drawing it out quickly and swinging at the approaching zombies.

However, a knife was much better suited to a one-on-one scenario- Niles was having to kick one zombie back as far as possible while simultaneously wrestling with one far too close for comfort. He’d managed to slit ones throat, but of course that wasn’t enough- with these creatures, you either had to remove the head completely or destroy the brain.

Quickly losing energy, Niles managed to hook his leg beneath one of the zombies, knocking it to the floor for just long enough that he was able to jump on it and drive his knife through its skull. He didn’t give himself time to celebrate, though- there was still one left, biting and crawling amongst the leaves at Niles’ feet. He retreated some distance, taking the opportunity to ready his crossbow again, barely hesitating to fire, a sudden silence filling the air.

Niles collapsed against the tree, panting wildly, blood stains on his hands and on his shirt.

“Dad?” Nina slipped her belt away from the tree trunk, clambering down the branches to the ground and stumbling to her father, who promptly took her in his arms tightly, “Are you okay, Dad?”

“Nina... Nina, baby,” Niles murmured, his lips pressed to Nina’s forehead, “We have to get out of here,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this was such a rollercoaster and this is literally just the beginning of what's to come :') As always please leave a comment and tell me what you thought of the chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE let me know what you think of this :') I'm a huge fan of Resident Evil, The Walking Dead and the zombie/zombie apocalypse genre as a whole so it was about time I put a Leoniles spin on it.


End file.
